penalty. >> yep. >> and i think though because of the eighth amendment and the fact the way it's applied could be considered cruel and unusual, it's an issue that's not going away. >> mark o'mara, joey jackson, good to hear from you. brilliant minds and brilliant thoughts. thanks for watching. "cnn newsroom" continues now. just before the winter olympics begin, two brothers who police believe may have assisted in a deadly terrorist bombing in volgograd are now in custody. amanda knox will find out this hour whether she'll be convicted of murdering a british exchange student more than two years after she was acquitted in the case. and three inches of snowfall, that is the question frozen in everyone's mind, how did two inches of snow bring a major city to its knees? no one wants to play the blame game, but is anyone willing to take responsibility?

and welcome to the "cnn newsroom." i'm carole costello. thanks for joining me. the ice that caused the traffic nightmare has almost melted away, but the fi i can't say koe will forever be frozen in the city's memory. drivers are beginning to retrieve more than 2,000 vehicles abandoned all over the city. at least ten deaths were reported across the south from this week's wintry blast. and in alabama 1,600 students were still hunkered down in their schools as of this morning. george howell is traveling around atlanta to give us a firsthand look at the car recovery efforts. good morning, george. >> reporter: good morning. we're hearing so many stories about how people had to deal with that situation when the ice came in, when things started to freeze. i want to bring in here jenny nickels, you are the executive director for the day shelter for women here in atlanta. first of all, what did you have to do when you were in the situation where you had to leave your car? >> exactly.

it was terrifying. everything was just solid ice. i had stayed at the shelter until we could get all of our homeless guests transported to their night shelters so we knew they were safe. i left and headed down 75 around 2:00 in the afternoon. i only made it to mt. perrin exit. it took me about six hours to get there. and i made it to the top of the hill and i started down the hill and it was just a solid block of ice. so i started sliding. and i was tapping the brakes, like they tell you to do. i was trying to steer my car to the side. there were georgia state patrol lined up. i thought cars were just backed up, but they were just sliding down hitting each other. i slid over to the side and had my dad on speakerphone on my cell phone in my lap. and i said, you know, i have a chance to pull into the grass, what should i do? he said pull in, pull in. he goes just pull in and stop. so i pulled up on the grass, sat there for a few minutes and chatted with dad and decided that the best option for me was to try and hoof it about two hours up to the waverly hotel

where they had said they were taking in folks to stay the night. >> reporter: jenny, it's amazing that first of all, you know, you weren't hit in that situation. and here you are now and so that you know we're at a location where people are coming together to be reunited, to retrieve their cars. the national guard is helping. what have they said about you getting back to your car? >> they're amazing. i mean, the groups that have really come out i've watched facebook, i've watched different friends talk about going out. this group here they said it will just be a matter of minutes. i literally got here maybe five minutes ago and they said it will be maybe five minutes before they have a humvee to take me to my car. they're prepared with, they said, the hero units are going fo-to-go out with us to jump our cars if we need it. the response on this end has been amazing. and i'm just so thankful for all the men and out here who are helping us because they're working on little sleep too. >> reporter: jenny, thank you for your time. important to put this out, 9:00 p.m. eastern time, 9:00 p.m., that's when you want to make sure you've been here, you've

talked to the national guard, you've talked to the state patrol. because if your car is still on the roads after 9:00 p.m., it could be towed by private company. you could potentially have to pay for your car to get it, to find it. so, again, now is the best time to get with these guys and get your car off the road if you're here in metro atlanta. >> all right. george howell, many thanks. question everyone in atlanta is still asking, how did this happen? how did a modern city like atlanta suddenly become paryrol i paralyzed. how the power is limited inside city limits. >> i think rather than playing the blame game, we have shared responsibility. i want to state clearly, i don't have jurisdiction to clear the state highways in the city of atlanta. i'm responsible for the streets that are in the city of atlanta. we got our streets cleaned. we kept our hospitals open. we kept our people safe.

and the city of atlanta is running again. >> governor nathan beal has said it was due to a faulty weather forecast. he has not responded to our repeated requests for an interview, but the republican governor did appear on fox news this morning. >> the real snow started about noon and a little after that. at about 12:15 our signals on our interstates was that all the roads were green, that is they were free and ready to move. within about 15 minutes it had gone to almost completely red. so the congestion on our interstates occurred within a very short period of time. >> let's go right to victor blackwell. victor, 48 hours later do we have a better handle on how all of this went down? >> reporter: well, there's no disagreement amongst the city leaders, state leaders or the people who live here in the atlanta metro area what the problems were. as you heard from those leaders. but the question is whose job

was it to make sure that everything worked properly? now, the mayor of atlanta has said several times that the releases, the dismissals from schools, from businesses, city governments and state offices should have been staggered. however, he has not said that he made any calls to try to stagger those. now, he has made it very clear that he does not have control over when students are released, but another question, did he call the superintendents of local school districts? did he call companies like coca-cola, major companies here, delta, major companies in atlanta, to determine when they would release their employees? we have not gotten an answer to that. now, for governor deal, in that interview with fox news he said that, you know, the roads changed from green to red almost immediately and that, you know, the roads were clogged in just a few minutes. no mention of, you know, trucks with the tires, the tractor-trailers coming through requiring them to have chains on those tires or getting the salt

trucks, the brine out before the storm started. so, again, everyone has identified the problem, but so many times in situations like this and we've seen it over the last three days, no one's saying that is my fault. carol. >> victor blackwell reporting live this morning. there is a silver lining to this fiasco. while government officials are busy pointing fingers at each other, ordinary people stepped up. countless good samaritans have come forward during the worst of the storm to help people who have been stranded for hours in the freezing weather. more now from nick valencia. >> hours seeming like eternity for thousands of atlanta motorists trapped in their cars. major stores like home depot and kroger staying open to shelter stranded passengers. the national guard handing out meals and blankets. >> we've got the meals ready to eat. just basic nutrition. that's what your soldiers are eating in afghanistan. >> but it was the everyday people who immediately banded together to help those in need.

robin and greg jacobs housed 22 kids stranded at the local elementary school. >> it was just a lot of kindness outside, not just in our home but just everywhere on the streets people were trying to help everybody. >> social media exploded with stories of other atlantans springing into action, pulling out stuck motorists and clearing ice. >> me and my wife wanted to just come out and see if we could help push people up or, you know, just do whatever we could do to help. >> this man throwing chains under tires to help cars gain traction. >> you got to do what you can to help. >> and these good samaritans equipped with the cooler strapped to a sled handing out food and water. >> we were just trying to help out. my wife was stuck for five hours and we thought that was bad and woke up this morning here it is people 24 hours. >> the never ending gridlock led hundreds to abandon their cars. for nick anderson and his pregnant wife amy, walking wasn't an option when she suddenly went into labor. >> we couldn't go anymore and that's when i knew contractions had gotten so strong. >> an officer on his way to a

traffic accident saw the couple on the side of the road. >> i walked over to him and i said are y'all broke down? i saw he was on the phone and he said, no, actually, we're having a baby. >> equipped with the first aid kit while nick was on the phone with the 911 operator, the three delivers a beautiful baby girl named grace in the midst of massive chaos and frustration. >> nick, i talked to that officer in your story earlier in the newsroom and he said the most amazing thing is there were two other children in the backseat and they were watching their mom give birth. the whole family was very calm. >> this is a story they're going to be talking about for decades, carol. and it was the random acts of kindness, that police officer going out of his way to help that family, we saw strangers helping strangers, the whole facebook page dedicated to just really these random acts of people helping out each other in tough situations. and, you know, that really made all the difference. you're right, carol, that was the silver lining. if there's any good story line out of this, it's that southern

hospitality here in georgia. >> oh, my gosh, is that sun over your head? do i see sun shining outside? >> no jacket, no scarf, taking off the beanie. this is good news for those of you watching here in atlanta and beyond. it's starting to clear up out here. you know, things are looking better where victor blackwell lives, where george howell lives, things are starting to shine out here as well. there are icy patches especially near the downtown area and midtown area here. but things are starting to clear up. it's looking very good for the clean up process. we want to reiterate and reemphasize though if you did leave your car abandoned out there on the interstate as george howell mentioned, 9:00 p.m. tonight is when they start towing. a good idea for you to pick up your cars. carol. >> good advice. nick valencia, many thanks. more of what we're working on for you on this hour, one week and one day until the start of the 2014 winter olympics. the russians say sochi is the most secure place on the planet right now. do you believe them? we'll take you live to sochi

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for fast, long lasting relief, use doctor recommended gaviscon®. only gaviscon® forms a protective barrier that helps block stomach acid from splashing up- relieving the pain quickly. try fast, long lasting gaviscon®. police in russia now say they know the names of the two men who blew themselves up and killed more than 30 other people in the name of terrorism. there was two separate suicide bombings last month, one inside a large train station, a second one inside a public bus. both in the city of volgograd. antiterrorism officials say the men belonged to a well-known militant group that operates in that part of the former soviet union. police also arrested two people

who may have helped the bombers. cnn's ivan watson is in sochi, russia, now to tell us more. good morning, ivan. >> good morning, carol. that's right, the russian security forces say that they captured these two brothers on wednesday, that they claim were accomplices to those deadly twin suicide bombings that hit the city of volgograd at the end of december and killed more than 30 people. the two suspects were arrested in the russian republic of dagestan, which is about 600 miles east of sochi here where i am where the winter olympics are going to be held. and the russians say that they're continuing security operations. they insist that these are going to be the safest winter olympics ever. we've certainly seen massive amounts of russian security forces, very well-fortified olympic venues. but i have to add that the head of the u.s.'s national counterterrorism center, matthew

olson, he briefed congress members yesterday. and he said, yes, he does think the olympic venues will be safe. but he fears that the city of sochi and districts beyond sochi that they are soft targets and "there is substantial potential for a terrorist attack there." carol. >> okay. ivan, i want to change gears just a bit because there's another problem in sochi right now, and kind of that problem kind of dims in light of what you've just said, but it is serious because these are the winter olympics and there's no snow in sochi. it's 50 degrees there, right? >> it is. i'm here on the coast of the black sea. and the russians have billed sochi as, look, it's warm down at the sea and up in the mountains it's cold. but we were up in the mountains today, and it was around 50 degrees and raining by the ski jump site. and very little snow in sight. so i talked to a guy who i've

described as the snow whisperer. he's from finland. he's a snow specialist. and i asked him, is there going to be snow a little bit over a week from now? take a listen to what he had to say. >> first of all, don't worry about the snow. snow will be guaranteed. >> guaranteed? >> yeah. >> why? >> because the concept is based on three steps. >> uh-huh. >> first of all backbone, order a snow making system. >> snow machines? >> snow machines, below zero temperatures we will start them. again, then as a first backup we have snow storages on the mountain. we transport snow. >> and this is snow from last winter. >> last winter, yes. >> that you've been storing just in case the weather's warm. >> yeah. and then third, we have an above zero snow making system also over there. >> incredible. they've actually been storing

hundreds of thousands of cubic meters of snow from last year under insulation up in the mountains. and they can pull them out if they need them, carol. in the meantime that snow whisperer as i like to call him, he says the russians may be getting some help from mother nature in the days ahead, this weekend there's a cold front coming in. >> i've never heard of a snow whisp whisperer. is it kind of like a horse whisperer? >> you know, this man points out that in finish there are at least 30 different words in the finish language for snow. so this man spent a long time studying snow. and he's giving his well-earned experience to the russians to make sure there is snow on the ski slopes in the weeks ahead. >> ivan watson, many thanks. let's go back to the safety and security questions in sochi. i want to bring in somebody who once ran security for an entire olympics game, william rathburn was the director of security for the 1996 games this atlanta. welcome. >> hi, carol.

>> so as the russians are making a big deal that they're arresting terrorists at a record pace, does that make you feel better? >> doesn't reassure me greatly. i'm certain they're doing everything they can to arrest the people responsible for those two bombings in volgograd. i think there are a lot of other potential terrorists in that whole region that they have to worry about. so it's a step in the right direction, but i think very small step. >> well, you know, a lot of analysts say that the olympic village itself will be fairly safe because security will be very tight there. the softer target will be in the city of sochi. surely the russians are doing something about that too though? >> certainly they are. yu know, they've studied past olympics. i think they're doing everything they possibly can, but they have their hands full. there's never been a higher threat to the olympic games in the history of the games. it's an unannounced threat, it's a credible threat, it's one

that's been proven that can be carried out by those three bombings in volgograd. i have serious concerns -- i'm confident that the russians can do a good job with the olympic venues themselves. however, i must say that i have some concerns because the olympic games takes tens of thousands of people, support staff people, to put on the games that stage the games. so there's a screening process that has to take place. and there's constant pressure to back fill the positions as they vacate themselves. so there is a real concern about the venues, but they have been hardened. but there's an infinite number of soft targets available. >> a lot of americans are leaving for sochi to watch the games. what advice would you give them? >> i guess my major concern is public transportation. there's certainly been a clear pattern of suicide bombing attacks on buses, all the transportation buses and on

trains. so i think that's the biggest concern to the extent they can avoid using public transportation, i would avoid it. i would walk instead of taking a bus. i would take a taxi instead of taking a train. i would do everything i could to avoid those two modes of transportation. >> william rathburn, thanks for joining us this morning. we appreciate it. >> thank you, carol. in syria cnn has learned that food is starting to get through to a refugee camp near the capital damascus. this is the fist u.n. aid convoy to reach the region since january 21st. it comes as opposition delegates hold peace talks in geneva. more than 100,000 people have been killed in syria since the uprising began nearly three years ago. millions more have had to leave their homes. president obama taking his state of the union message on to the road. he is now in wisconsin. we're going to talk more about that after a break. hey kevin...still eating chalk for heartburn? yeah...

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president obama on the road again taking his state of the union message to the states and pitching his plan to get the middle class on solid ground. right now the president is in wisconsin. he's due to speak at any moment now at a ge gas engine plant, but before the president begins speaking, let's head to washington and check-in with wolf blitzer. when the president landed in wisconsin, wolf, it was interesting to see the republican governor greeting him. there wasn't a democrat in sight. >> you know, it's pretty amazing when you think about it, the president of the united states he comes to wisconsin, the governor scott walker, he's a republican, he's up for re-election, he's there at the bottom of the stairs, welcomes

the president. they have an opportunity to talk about the propane shortage that's going on in the midwest including in wisconsin, has a letter he's already written to the president. he does the right thing, he welcomes the president of the united states to his home state. he's being challenged by a democrat, mary burk, who is nowhere in sight. there's the president when he landed just a little while ago in wisconsin. you can see the governor is there to receive him. but mary burk, who's challenging scott walker, she's in the other part of the state today. she decides she's not going to be anywhere near the president of the united states, presumably because she thinks that kind of photo is not going to help her chances of beating scott walker. now, if this were just one isolated incident, that would be that. but it's happened a few times when he went to north carolina a few weeks ago, the incumbent democratic senator kay hagan, she was nowhere in the state. they always have an excuse of being busy, a full schedule. he went to louisiana, mary landrieu, the incumbent democrat up for re-election, she was busy

with other stuff she had to do. she wasn't there to receive the president. there seems to be a pattern here of democrats who feel that you might not necessarily be helpful in their bids to win their elections, although they certainly would like him to raise money. but they don't necessarily want to be photographed with the president. and that's a disturbing sign if you're a democrat, if you're the president of the united states. >> well, it's just ironic perhaps because remember chris christie's big hug with president obama when president obama visited the jersey shore after the hurricane swept through? that picture of the governor embracing president obama really upset republicans. and now you have a republican governor willing to have his photo taken with president obama. and they're shaking hands. and he thinks it's a plus for his political career. >> yeah, i mean, it's important. he's the governor of the state, the president of the united states comes there, there you see he's walking into the room where he's going to be speaking making his pitch on some of the issues he laid out in his state of the union address. the governor does the right thing, he welcomes the president of the united states.

it's not every day a president comes to wisconsin. so he did the right thing, carol. but, you know, some of these democrats who were nervous about getting re-elected, they're not there. >> right. let's listen to the president, wolf. >> hello. well, it's good to be in wisconsin. good to be in waukesha. now, i always appreciate the hospitality that packer country gives a bears fan. i remember when i was up here campaigning the first time and there was some cheese heads for obama. and i felt pretty good about that. neither of us feel that good about our seasons, but it's okay. there's always next year. we have three of your outstanding elected officials with us here today. we've got congresswoman gwen

moore. we got the mayor of milwaukee tom barrett. and we have milwaukee county executive chris abila. and we've got your former governor jim doyle. it's also good to see -- i had a chance to see backstage somebody who was a huge part of my economic team before she became chancellor of the university of wisconsin, madison, dr. becky blank is here. we want to give becky a big round of applause. she says she missed washington, but she doesn't really. she was just saying that to be nice. i'm so proud of reggie. and i'm grateful for the terrific introduction. i want to thank jim for showing me around the plant.

i have come here to talk with you about something that i spent a lot of time on in my state of the union address on tuesday. the idea that no matter who you are, if you are willing to work hard, if you're willing to take on responsibility, you can get ahead. the idea of opportunity here in america. we're at a moment where businesses like ge have created 8 million new jobs over the past four years. and that's good news. our unemployment rate is at the lowest it's been in more than five years. our deficits have been cut in half. housing is rebounding. manufacturing is adding jobs for the first time since the 1990s. we sell more of what we make here in america to other countries than we ever have before. today we learned in the second half of the last year our economy grew by 3.7%.

we still have more work to do, but that's pretty strong. and our businesses led the way. over the past year the private sector grew faster than at any time in over a decade. and that's why i believe this can be a breakthrough year for america. after five years of hard work digging ourselves out of the worst recession of our lifetimes, we are now better positioned in the 21st century than any other country on earth. we've got all the ingredients we need to make sure that america thrives. and the question for folks in washington is whether they're going to help or they're going to hinder that progress. whether they're going to waste time creating new crises that slow things down or create jobs and opportunity. the truth is, and you know this in your own lives and you see it

in your neighborhoods and among your own friends and family, even though the economy's been growing for four years, even though corporate profits have been doing very well, stock prices have soared, most folks wages haven't gone up in over a decade. the middle class has been taking it on the chin even before the financial crisis. too many americans working harder than ever just to get by let alone get ahead. and then there are too many americans who still are out of work. here in wisconsin and around the country. so we've got to reverse those trends if we're going to be serious about giving opportunity to everybody. that's why on tuesday i laid out some new steps that we can take right now to speed up economic growth and strengthen the middle class. and build ladders of opportunity into the middle class. some of the ideas i've presented i'm going to need congress for.

but america cannot standstill, and neither will i. so wherever i can take steps to expand opportunity to help working families, that's what i'm going to do with or without congress. i want to work with them, but i can't wait for them. we got too much work to do out there. because the defining project of our generation, what we have to tackle right now, what has driven me throughout my presidency and what will drive me until i wave good-bye is making sure that we're restoring opportunity to every single person in america. now, this opportunity agenda that i put forward has four parts. first part is creating more new jobs. jobs in american manufacturing, american exports, american energy, american innovation. by the way, this plant

represents all those things. you've seen new jobs being built in part because we've had this amazing energy boom in this country. and the engines that are built here a lot of them are being utilized in that new energy production. we're exporting a whole bunch of these engines overseas. the manufacturing that's taking place here isn't just good for this plant, it has spillover effects throughout the economy. and, what's also true is that manufacturing jobs typically pay well. we want to encourage more of them. and there's also innovation going on at this plant. so the engines that were built 25 years ago aren't the same as the engines we're building today. so the first thing is let's create more new jobs. number two, we got to train americans with the skills to fill those jobs.

americans like reggie, we got to get them ready to take those jobs. number three, we've got to guarantee every child access to a world class education because that's where the foundation starts for them to be able to get a good job. and then number four, we got to make sure hard work pays off. if you work hard, you should be able to support a family. you may not end up being wildly rich, but you should be able to pay your mortgage, your car note, look after your family, maybe take a vacation once in a while. especially when it's kind of cold. yeah. at the state of the union i was going to start out by saying the state of the union is cold, but i decided that was not entirely

appropria appropriate. so on tuesday i talked about what it will take to attract more good paying jobs to america. everything from changing our tax code to reward companies making money here in the united states to boosting more natural gas production. but in this rapidly changing economy, we also have to make sure that folks can fill those jobs. and that's why i'm here today. i know some folks in wisconsin can remember a time a few decades ago when finding a job in manufacturing wasn't hard at all. you want a job, you showed up at a factory, you got hired. if you worked hard, you could stay on the job. but our economy's changing. not all of today's good jobs need a four-year degree. but the ones that don't need a college degree do need some specialized training. we were looking at some of the

equipment here, it's $5 million worth of equipment, ge's going to be a little nervous if they just kind of put you there on the first day and say, hey, run this thing. because if you mess up, you mess up. so that's the challenge for workers. and it's a challenge for companies who want to build things here and want to bring jobs back from overseas. as one of the top executives here put it, brian white, if we're going to have a manufacturing base in this country, we've got to find a way to have manufacturing employees. now, the good news is is that folks across wisconsin have set out to do just that. this plant's a great example of that. that's why we're here. in addition to just you seem like very nice people. we're here because you're doing some good stuff that everyone else needs to pay attention to. together with a local high school you started a youth apprenticeship program.

students spend four hours a day in the classroom, four hours on the shop floor. after two years they leave with both a high school diploma and a technical certificate. then you set up an adult apprenticeship program so folks can earn while they learn. you're working with partners from the wisconsin regional training partnership to mayor barrett's manufacturing partnership to more than 50 other employers big and small across the region in order to spot job openings months in advance and then design training programs specifically for the openings. you helped set up a schools to assistance program to bring kids to factories to help inspire them to pursue careers in manufacturing. i just want to make a quick comment on that. a lot of parents, unfortunately, maybe when they saw a lot of manufacturing being offshored told their kids you don't want to go into the trades, you don't

want to go into manufacturing because you'll lose your job. well, the problem is that what happened a lot of young people no longer see the trades and skilled manufacturing as a viable career. but i promise you -- >> all right. we're going to jump away from this. the president is talking about creating new jobs and the best way to do that is to train american workers to take on jobs desperately in need of employees these days. in fact, ultimately he's going to announce a job -- a federal job retraining program. that's going to be headed up by the vice president joe biden. and it's an effort to get people properly trained so that they can take these high-tech manufacturing jobs and of course improve our economy. we'll see if it works. in other news this morning, one police officer truly showed grace under pressure during atlanta's traffic nightmare. grace is the baby girl this officer helped deliver while mom

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at least one good thing emerged from atlanta's epic winter gridlock nightmare, baby grace anderson. she was born in the car because her parents could not get to a hospital. they were trapped alongside the road like everyone else. but they had a little help from a police officer named timothy

cheffield. he thought he was checking on another stranded driver. he wasn't expecting the miracle of life to play out before his eyes. i talked with the officer. >> i was checking all stranded motorists as i went along. and i saw this suv, you know, big suburban, pulled over on the side. so i got out and i asked the driver so are you stuck or broke down. and he said no, real calm, we're having a baby. i was like, okay. i didn't know, i thought maybe they were having contractions and when i walked up to the front i could tell that the baby was coming right then. >> so you saw the baby's head, right? >> i did. i could see the baby's head and he was on the phone with our chat 911. i could hear her. she was doing an amazing job in keeping him calm. i was like, all right -- >> she was keeping him calm? >> yeah. i mean, you know, she was kind of telling him what to do. so i went and got my first aid kit and came back to the car. and the baby popped out.

>> at one point he tried to pull the baby out, but you said -- >> once the baby's head popped out i could hear -- cause he was helping. he had the phone in his hands still talking to 911. and when the baby's head had popped out, he had grabbed the head and started to pull it and i was like don't pull. and the mother, a champ. she just pushed one more time and the baby came out. so i looked down because the baby wasn't crying at first. then it started to cry. and then it quit. and checked the airway, you know, to clear the mouth. you could hear the 911 operator we was kind of working as a team saying go ahead and clear the mouth. so i went back to go back to my car to get like a blanket or something or my jacket and at the time i saw the fire department pulled up. they did an amazing job. couldn't have got there any quicker. >> the other amazing thing, there were two other kids sitting in the backseat. >> there was. and that's what -- i had talked to my wife, we were looking, the kids were just looking down and

just real calm very well behaved. that family is amazing. they were a well-organized team. >> and those kids were -- are either like, you know, amazed at the wonder of life or very traumatized. that's an amazing story. thank you officer sheffield. we are watching an italian court right now. we'll take you to florence next. [ tires screech ] [ car alarm chirps ] ♪ [ male announcer ] we don't just certify our pre-owned vehicles. we inspect, analyze, and recondition each one, until it's nothing short of a genuine certified pre-owned mercedes-benz

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we're awaiting word from an italian court the guilt or innocence of amanda knox and her ex-boyfriend hang in the balance again. both were acquitted and later reacquitted of the 2007 murder of knox's college roommate meredith kercher. but the acquittals were overturned last year. knox is awaiting this in her hometown of seattle.

she says if found guilty she'll become a fugitive. we're outside the courthouse in florence, italy. tell us more. >> reporter: hi, carol. well, six jurors and two judges have been deliberating this case for almost nine hours now. the courtroom in the courthouse just behind me absolutely packed full of journalists, spectators and attorneys waiting for some sort of decision. we're now told to expect something in the 2:00 p.m. eastern hour, but that is still to be confirmed by the court clerk. important to remember that under italian law neither amanda knox nor her ex-boyfriend are required to be present throughout these proceedings or present indeed for this verdict. amanda knox remains at her mother's home, we understand in seattle. rafaeli appeared today later in court telling cnn he's

absolutely terrified but wanted to face justice. we're now hearing he will not be present in court when the verdict is read out. he is currently with relatives in florence along with his father. carol. >> aaron mclaughlin, reporting from florence. when that comes down, we'll report it immediately. stocks have taken a nice bounce up today. the dow up almost 165 points. we'll tell you what's driving the upsurge next. hey kevin...still eating chalk for heartburn? yeah... try new alka seltzer fruit chews. they work fast on heartburn and taste awesome. these are good. told ya! i'm feeling better already. [ male announcer ] new alka seltzer fruits chews. enjoy the relief! it's not the "fumbling around with rotating categories" card. it's not the "getting blindsided by limits" card. it's the no-game-playing, no-earning-limit-having, deep-bomb-throwing, give-me-the-ball-and-i'll-take- it-to-the-house, cash back card.

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the dow is up, the nasdaq is up, and the government announced today that the economy grew at a pace of 3.2% in the fourth quarter. all good news as stocks rebounded early after falloff at wednesday's close. alison kosik has more from the new york stock exchange. good morning. >> good morning. you know, a lot of people were looking at this gdp report, carol, to see if that 16-day government shutdown took a bite out of growth. and it really didn't effect

growth too much. you look at the economy it actually looked pretty good as we closed the books on 2013. gdp grew at a 3.2% rate between the months of october through december because consumers spent more, exports went up and there was stronger business investment. more spending is a good thing, by the way. it shows businesses as americans have some confidence in the economy. and what a ride it's been over the past few years. 3.2% is actually one of the stronger readings even though it's down from the third quarter. what is gdp? gdp is one of the biggest reports that we get. it's kind of like the economy's report card. that 16-day government shutdown didn't really hurt growth all too much, but without that shutdown gdp is 3.5% instead of 3.2%. what you can see on the board, all that green, carol, that's wall street's relief that the impact wasn't more dramatic. carol. >> i love that. there are still some concerns emerging markets aren't doing so great. that caused quite the sell off a couple days ago. what's up with that? >> yeah, exactly.

so investors today at least for the moment are feeling better about that. the dow's erasing a big portion of the losses we've been watching day after day. now, yesterday there was already this combination of negative things happening and then the fed announcement came out that it was going to go ahead and taper the stimulus even though everybody expected it, the market sold off anyway. investors had expected the fed to address in some way the recent turmoil in emerging markets. the traders i've talked to say they are disappointed bernanke and other fed members didn't acknowledge the other pressures on the global economy. but things look like smooth sailing today at least for today, getting over those worries largely thanks to gdp. carol. >> good stuff. alison kosik, thank you so much. and thanks for watching me. i'm carol costello. more of "cnn newsroom" after this. if you wear a denture,

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right now atlanta digs out. and the blame game heats up. who's responsible for the chaos created by two inches of snow and ice? also, right now keeping the super bowl safe. why the biggest security challenge may lie miles away from where the game will be held. and right now jeb bush talks about running for president in 2016. and about why he says his mother needs to think more before she speaks. hello. i'm wolf blitzer reporting from washington. icy roads and heated exchanges today in atlanta. the mayor kasim reed and mayor deal going back on claims they seriously mishandled this week's storm. a couple inches of snow created icy conditions, absolute gridlock on side streets and highways. thousands and thousands of